3 candidates qualify for Statesboro election

Blitch, Grice enter race as expected; newcomer Thomas to compete in District 1

Tommy Blitch

On the first day of qualifying for the upcoming city council election, three candidates have thrown their hats into the ring. As expected, DeWayne Grice, co-owner of Lori Grice Photography in downtown Statesboro qualified to run for mayor. He announced his candidacy last week during the Mornings unPHILtered radio program. Sitting city councilman Tommy Blitch, District 1, also made good on his announcement last week to run and qualified for reelection. However, he will be facing competition in this election cycle. William Thomas, a sales representative for Big Bad Wolf Catering, has decided to run. Thomas, 45, is a Georgia Southern business school graduate who has lived in the city for five years. He said recent decisions by the current council compelled him to run. “I think in the past year we’ve all had our share of disappointment with events in the city – things that are unfortunate incidents that I felt shouldn’t have happened and perhaps weren’t handled correctly,” Thomas said. “I had so many conversations with people who were disgusted with the way thing were going and I shared their sentiments and thought that somebody out to run and try to make sense of things. I think I’d do a great job at that.” Qualifying for city council takes place all this week at city hall for the mayor’s seat and seats in District 1 and 4. Those interested in qualifying to run for mayor or city council should see Elections Superintendent and City Clerk Sue Starling on the second floor of city hall, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. To qualify for mayor, a candidate must be 30 years old, must have live in the city limits for two years and must be a registered voter. To qualify for a council seat, a candidate must be 25 years old, have lived in their district for 12 consecutive months before the election and be a registered voter. In addition, a candidate must pay a qualifying fee — $555 for mayor and $225 for council.

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